-end that every woman must or should attain a 100% natural birth. Each woman has her own abilities and limitations, and that must always be taken into account. My mission is simply to offer a woman ways to go further than that, should she so desire. Therefore, a compromise, a synthesis, an integrated approach between the so-called natural and the so-called mainstream approaches is no doubt what most readers will adopt. And that is, for them, the wisest path.
 

	~ The Spirituality of Birth ~

   So often in childbirth, consideration is given only to the physical aspects of the matter, and the spiritual birth of our children goes unacknow-ledged. It is most likely that an aspiring natural birther already has some interest and under-standing of this element. How then can we develop an even greater understanding of the most subtle aspects of this amazing process and utilise it within our labours?
   The knowledge of Kundalini Yoga and a being’s evolution through the chakras has greatly helped me to see more of the intrinsic spiritual nature, not only of birthing, but also of my own womanhood, motherhood, and purpose in this universe.
   As explained in the section on Conscious Conception, the spiritual journey of a manifesting child is gradually downwards, from its state of unmanifested oneness, into mental oneness with the mother and father, devotional oneness of mother and father, sexual oneness with the mother and father, then into foetal oneness inside the mother, until finally he is born in an act of physical separation into the realm of duality. As a child grows, physically and psychologically, this dualism and separatism also continue to grow until such time as they attain independence to survive alone.
   Childbirth is a profound time in this journey, and I think most mothers know this, if only subconsciously. During our pregnancies, our labours and our neo-natal times, we must regularly reflect on this progression of the soul. Such meditations (in the general sense of the word) definitely help one to realise that, all along, mother nature and father spirit (shakti and shiva as yoga calls them) are guiding what is happening to us in this life. Fully knowing this allows you to accept, to surrender, and to flow into childbirth.
   The actual moment following the birth is also extremely profound. The immediate

period of exhilaration and relief, contain far more than “thank God its over, isn’t he / she beautiful, I’m so happy I could cry”. Beneath those joyous feelings is also a sadness for the child, that they have now left a place of great safety and comfort to enter a world where, from time to time, they must endure much suffering. And therein lies the awakening of a mother’s deepest compassion. When she first sees this separate, helpless little being, she realises she has (partly) created this life for that child and now she must share his suffering for many years along with times of her own. I believe that the power of such thoughts may be a factor in the onset of post-natal depression in women who are unable to come to terms with such realisations.
   But such thoughts on your child’s birthday are not morbid, nor need they be defeatist or overwhelming. They are simply a part of the way things are. We should in fact explore them to find the deepest answers to our existence and then use that wisdom to guide our children through their lives, back to the oneness from which they came.
 

	~ Being a Channel ~

   From conception, through pregnancy to birth, a yoga-minded woman considers herself a vessel, a channel for the being who comes into the world through her. The more she develops this attitude, the more the birth will pass easily as she surrenders her body over to the forces of nature which know best how to manifest that child. And where is the mind in all this? Just watching if you can believe it! More about that later.
   All matter is energy, all energy is called shakti in tantra and yoga. Childbirth is simply that child’s own shakti departing the mother’s shakti, and like a rocket leaving the earth’s gravity it takes a big push of energy!
   One of the ironies of childbirth is that shakti is moving in the completely opposite direction to our usual nature. Normally, in a sexual context, the vagina and uterus (the Yoni) want to receive and close around the items which enter it – the penis (Lingam) and semen (ojas ). Prior to conception fulfilment arises out of this act of union. However, during birth, the yoni delivers an outward flow of energy (the baby). Here its fulfilment comes from an event of separation. In this sense, birth is the beginning of energy out-giving to our children and that is why it can rightly be called an initiation – or a new beginning.